Pneumatic tire.



l T.. MIDGLEY.

PNEUMTIC TIRE.

y APPLIOATIOI FILED IALBB. 1004.

l0 XODBL.

- PATBNTED JUNE 14, 1904.

No. 762,740.1 PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904. .Y

T. MIDGLE'Y.

,PNEUMATIG TIRE.

u APPLICATION FILED IAR. 23. 1904.

l0 HODEL.

Y mums-SHEET 2.

PATENTED JUNE 14, 1904.

No. 762,740. v

T. MIDGLEY.

PNEUMATIG TIRE.

.APPLIGA'rIoN FILED nanna. 1904.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

N0 MODEL.

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:ne mms dus co. uovo-uma. mwmmou. bf c PATBNTBD JUNE 14, 1904;

T. MIDGLEY. PNEUMATIC TIRE. 4221.104110! FILED 114123.11104.

l0 KODBL.

Patented June 14, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

THoMAs MIDGLEY, oF coLUMBUsoHio- PNEul'vlA'Tl'o TIRE. i

SPECIFICATION Vforming* part of Letters Patent No. 762,740, dated June14, 1904.

Application iiled March 23, 1904.

Be it known that I, THOMAS MIDGLEY, a citizen. of the United States,residing at Columbus, in the county of Franklin and .State of Ohio, haveinvented certain new and usefulImprovements in Pneumatic Tires; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact descriptionof the invention, such as will enable others skilled in theart to whichit a pertains to make and use the same. i-

My invention relates `to pneumatic tires for vehicles, such asautomobiles and like constructions, and has for its object increaseddurability and reduction in theucost of mainte-Y, nance of such tires ;Yand the invention consists in certain improvements, which .will be fullydisclosed in the following specification and claims. v Y

Practical experience in the use of pneumatic tires vhas demonstratedthat the maximum destruction or wear and tear of the tire is not due topunctures or excessive wear upon the tread of the tire, but that in theclass of tires which use a separate cover, such as the Dunlop vorClincher tires, or in the cylindrical tire the greatest deterioration isdue to the constant changes inv the material of which the tires are madeby the liexure of the tire on its sides between the tread of the tireand its bearing on the rim of a wheel. In the covers or casings of theDunlop and the Clincher type of tires this flexure is very pronouncedand weakens the sides of the cover very rapidly, and this iiexure causesthe canvas to break in successive layers from the outside inwardcircumferentially under the tread of the tire. This deterioration of thecanvas is also augmented by the frictionof the body of air under highpressure within the tire as it is displaced by the revolution of thewheel, due to the high degree of heat generated in the tire by themoving body of air.

The 'purpose of my invention is to remedy these defects by providing atire which is not affected by flexure or friction and is capable ofsustaining any degree of pressure that may be applied to the air used toinflate the tire.

In the accompanyingdrawings, which form part of this specification,Figure 1 represents semi No. 199,515. N'o patati.)

a plan of a section of woven-wire fabric to form the tire-body,thelielices being shown on an enlarged scale; Fig. 2, a side elevationof the samebent into an annulus with the ends of the fabric abutting;Fig. 3, a like view showing a means for connecting the ends of thefabric; Fig. ifa top plan view showing the multiple rods in the heliceson the edges of the fabric; Fig. 5, a transverse section of a segment ofthe former and the tire-body in position around it, thehelices beingshown on a reduced scale; Fig.t 6, a like view showing the tire-bodypartly distended; Fig. 7 a

top plan view of a section of the tire-body, showing the helices Vandthe longitudinal reinforces on an enlarged scale; Fig. 8, a trans- Y thedesignating characters thereon, l indicates wire ,helices which arewoven together by screwing one helix or section into another as theyproceed from the coiling-machine until a piece of fabric isformed of alength equal to the circumference of the tire-body required and of awidth equal to the transverse area of the tire.

2 indicates short sections of helices used in this instance to connectthe abuttingends of thefabric after it has been bent into 'an annulus toform a tire-body and are screwed into the helices l a suiicient distanceon eacli side of the ends of the helices 1 to connect them securely. Ihave shown this way of connecting the adjacent ends of the helices forthe purpose of illustration, but do not confine or limit myself thereto,as they may be connected by other means. The outer helix or section oneach edge of the tire-body is provided with aplurality of wires 3, whichform rings by soldering their adjacent ends to stifen the edges of thetire where it engages the rim of a wheel, and all the helices areprovided with a longitudinal reinforce 4, which is screwed into thetire-body from one edge throughout the body in concentric helices orconvolutions from the edges to the transverse center of the tire-body ortread of the tire. This longitudinal reinforce prevents elongation ofthe helices under the pressure exerted in the tube 5 of the tire, andconsequent bulging or forming humps on the tire, and forms an additionalmeans for connecting the helices together transversely of the tirebodyby being screwed into them successively.

In forming the annulus 6 the adjacent ends of the sheet of fabric arepreferably brought together, so that the helices on the edges are out ofregister or one extending beyond the other, as shown in Fig. 4, tofacilitate the insertion of the wire rings 3 and the reinforces 4.

In the manufacture of the` tire-body (designated 7) the annulus 6 isprovided with the rings 3 on each edge and is placed around an annularformer composed of a plurality of segments 8, only one of which isshown, and of the transverse contour of the tire to be made. The annularformer is provided with means (not shown) for expanding the segments andtherewith expanding or distending the annulus 6 into a tire-body thecontour of the former. The tension exerted by the former takes up theslack between all of the helices, and the helices are stretched from apoint on the sides of the tire-body at about 9 gradually from theirnormal condition toward the transverse center of the bodyksay from sixhelices to the inch on the sides to live helices to the inch in thetransverse center of the tire-bodywhich produces a varying pitch of thehelices and a varying resiliency of the body and the tire from its edgestoward the transverse center of the tread of the tire. This leaves aportion of the tire-body on each side of unstretched or normal helices,as shown at 9, to allow free flexure of the sides of the tire from theedges 10, which engage the rim of a wheel, outward in the revolution ofthe wheel and the tire. After the annulus 6 has been expanded tothedesired extent to form the tirebody 7 the sides are drawn down to theflanges ll on the former, and the longitudinal reinforces 4 are insertedand pushed or forced through all the helices composing the tire-bodysuccessively. The former is then contracted, the tire-body removed, andsubsequently placed upon a support of the contour of the tire-body andcovered with rubber 12 in the manner of making this class or type oftires.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A'tire-body composed of concentric tubular members and longitudinalreinforces within said members.

2. A tire having a body composed of concentric tubular members,longitudinal reinforces within said members, and a covering of rubber.

3. A tire-body composed of interwoven concentric tubular members andlongitudinal reinforces within said members.

4. A tire having a body composed of interwoven concentrictubularmembers, longitudinal reinforces within said members, and a covering ofrubber.

5. A tire-body composed of concentric wire helices and longitudinalreinforces within said helices.

6. A tire having a body composed of concentric wire helices,longitudinal reinforces within said helices, and a covering of rubber.

7. A tire-body composed of interwoven concentric wire helices andlongitudinal reinforces within said helices.

8. A tire having a body composed of interwoven eoncentric wire helices,longitudinal concentric reinforces within said helices, and a coveringof rubber.

9. A tire-body composed of interwoven wi le helices and longitudinalreinforces and of different degrees of resiliency.

10. Atire having a body composed of interwoven wire helices andlongitudinal reinforces interwoven therewith and of different degrees ofresiliency, and a covering of rubber.

1l. A tire-body composed of interwoven wire helices varying in pitchtransversely of the body, and longitudinal reinforces engaging saidhelices.

l2. A tire having a body composed of interwoven wire helices varying inpitch transversely of the body, longitudinal reinforces engaging saidhelices, and acovering of rubber.

13. A tire having a metallic body of varying degrees of resiliency fromits bearing on the rim of a wheel toward the tread of the tire.

In testimony whereof 1 aiiix my signature iii-presence of two witnesses.

THOMAS MIDGLEY.

Vlfitnesscs:

C. HERMAN, KIRK BROWN.

lOO

